576 Police in America

Nitya asks Todd how people feel about the police in America.

Nitiya: OK, can you actually talk a little bit about police in America? How much does the civilians trust them or what beliefs you have about them?

Todd: Ooh, that I guess would depend on where you live. I grew up in a pretty small town. I'm white, Caucasian, and I think that most Causasian people trust the police pretty much 100%. They think that they're there to serve and protect, but unfortunately minority groups, blacks or African Americans and Hispanic people, Asian people sometimes don't trust the police.

Nitiya: OK, why do you think they don't trust the police sometimes?

Todd: Well, one is because the police probably don't treat them fairly. Often they live, some minority groups, live in poor areas, and in the poor areas there might be higher crime and the police probably have more stress, and they have they're more ... defensive, and as a result maybe they behave poorly, or they don't treat certain minority groups equally. They're more suspicious, and as a result, sometimes bad things happen.

Nitiya: So basically, most of the people do trust, it's like that.

Todd: I think, I think most people trust the police. I think, understandably, especially African Americans, don't trust the police because they think the police is always nervous and edgy around them, and that the police might use violence against them, or suspect that they are criminals, when they are just a good ordinary citizen, and so they probably don't trust the police as much.

Nitiya: OK, then and there is one more thing I want to ask you, about this police thing, so African Americans don't become police?

Todd: Oh, no, it's quite often that African Americans do become police.

Nitiya: OK, so you do have black people, who are police?

Todd: Oh, of course and you have, we have minority group. Usually where you have distrust with the police is the major larger cities, and it's a race thing, that has to do with race, but it also is an income thing, where usually the lower income people often feel like they're not treated, you know, fairly I guess. I mean what is it like in India? Do you have complete trust of the police?

Nitiya: I guess no, but it depends exactly on the city, as you said. The smaller cities, I think the conditions are very bad. I don't think, and it's not that fast, like in America, you dial a number and there are police there in two minutes, but that's not the way in India. Crime finishes and then they appear. Yeah. It's like that.